The Devil's Oboe
by schillingklaus
Summary: Occultist Novella - Two teenagers are on a quest of controlling nature with musics. Nevel Papperman/Megan Parker, Zoey Brooks/Spencer Shay, Dustin Brooks/Carly Shay, ...


** The Devil's Oboe**

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**Weather Witch Megan**

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** Klaus Schilling **

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Disclaimer: iDont Own _Zoey 101_ or _iCarly_ or _Drake & Josh_ or _Ned's Declassified SSG_ or _True Jackson VP_ or _Unfabulous_ or any of the lyrics

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Rating: PG-13

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**Abstract**

_Drake & Josh_,_iCarly_,_Zoey 101_

Occultist Romance; Fluff,Family,Friendship, Mystery, Spiritual

Timeline: After fourth season of _Zoey 101_, 2 years after third season of _Drake & Josh_, after season I of _iCarly_, 3 years after season 2 of _Unfabulous_ and _Ned's Declassified SSG_, first season of _True Jackson VP_

A bunch of teenagers is sharing a skiing hut in Yakima mountains, but the snow disappears over night!

Couples Megan Parker/Nevel Papperman, Zoey Brooks/Spencer Shay, Carly Shay/Dustin Brooks

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**Table of Contents**

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1. Ad Nivem

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1.

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1.

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1.

* * *

1.

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1.

* * *

1.

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1. Stay Tuned!

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2. Ad Pluviam

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2.

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2.

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2.

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2.

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2.

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2. Stay tuned!

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3. Ad Glaciem

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3.

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3.

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3.

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3.

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4. Ad Ventum

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4.

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4.

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4.

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4.

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5. Ad Tonitrum

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5.

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5.

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6. Ad Nebulam

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6.

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6.

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6.

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6.

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7. Ad Coelum

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7.

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7.

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7.

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8. Ad Albam

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8.

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8.

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9. Ad Crepisculum

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9.

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9.

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9.

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10. Ad Lunam

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10.

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10.

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10.

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10.

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11. Ad Solem

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11.

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11.

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11.

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12. Ad Stellas

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12.

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12.

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12.

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12.

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12.

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12.

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12. The End

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** Chapter 1. Ad Nivem**

* * *

Carly Shay was already looking forward for the Christmas break. She was going to spend it in a skiing hut in the Yakima Valley mountains, along with her best friends Fredward Benson and Samantha Puckett, and with her elder brother Spencer. The hut belonged to her grandpa.

Spencer was getting his suitcase done. "Should I only use the pink-beige socks and the plaid ones, or would the mauve-cobalt ..." He asked around.

None of the kids was in the slightest way interested in Spencer's kinky socks.

"Do we have WLAN access in the hut?" Freddie pondered.

"Aw..." Sam taunted her frenemy mercilessly. "Who is going to die without WLAN access?"

Carly shrugged. "Probably not ... and if, it will come with a high price. And all the batteries ..."

Freddie pointed at his suitcase, filled with batteries. "Don't tell my mom, she thinks that the suitcase is filled with medical supplies, otherwise she wouldn't let me go on the skiing trip." Freddie sighed because of his patronising mom.

Sam chuckled sadistically without remorse.

* * *

The pupils of the Pacific Coast Academy in California had finally been sent on vacations.

Zoey Brooks and her little brother Dustin could not go home to their parents, as those lived in London, and the break was too short to justify an expensive intercontinental flight - the regular prices around the Christmas season were now exorbitant, hardly affordable for the upper middle class.

For that cause, Zoey's roomie Quinn Pensky had made them an interesting offer. Her home was in the state of Washington, betwen Seattle and Yakima Valley. Her uncle was the former junior partner and now successor of Grandpa Shay. With his help, Quinn had been able to rent a skiing hut near Yakima, for herself and for Dustin and Zoey.

Zoey and Dustin were enthusiastic. They had never been skiing in their life, and they so wished to feel the excitement of the white gold underneath their feet.

* * *

After a long road, Spencer halted his craft in front of the skiing hut.

It was already way past noon, and they still had top take care of their luggage. This meant that they had no chance to get to ski for the rest of the day. For this reason, they enjoyed the panorama of the winter sun hanging low in the Yakima sky, making the abbundant snow glister and sparkle.

As they were still looking, another car approached and got halted next to the very same hut.

Zoey exited that car. "Oh, you seem to be leaving ..." she supposed erroneously. "Do you need help with your luggage?"

Carly was dumbfounded. "What? Leaving? We have just arrived! Doesn't mean you can't help us with our luggage, but ..." She chuckled politely.

"That's our hut!" Sam replied rudely. "Get out of here!"

Zoey was flabbergasted. "Trisha?"

Sam went pale. She had been living at the Pacific Coast academy, just a few years ago, under the fake name Trisha. Also her twin sister Melanie had been there, and she still was, because, unlike Trisha, she hadn't been expelled for her loose discipline. Alas, Freddie and Carly never had never come to know anything about this hitherto dark spot in Sam's past. She pouted and disappeared in the hut without saying a word.

Quinn and Dustin finally exited their car.

Dustin was flabbergasted. He had been a regular enthusiastic viewer of the iCarly Webshow. And now there was no doubt: This had to be Carly Shay, the show's host with whom Dustin was hopelessly in love, like so many other thirteen year old boys who liked to watch the web cast. And now he saw her for real.

"Sorry ..." Zoey excused herself for not having come to introduce herself unto Carly. "Zoey Brooks, and these are my friend Quinn and my little brother Dustin."

"Carly?" Dustin stammered. blushing a shade of crimson.

"Yeah that's me ..." Carly smiled. She guessed that Dustin was just another fan of her show who was a bit surprised meeting her for real, but Dustin was the first who blushed totally from _uvula_ to _pancreas_.

Dustin shook timidly Carly's hand, then Spencer's and Freddie's. He had heard Zoey calling Sam Trisha, so his suspicion was true: Sam Puckett was noone else than his former girlfriend Trisha Kirby, an obnoxious bitch. Ok, she was still a bit obnoxious on the show, but he knew that she had learnt from her mistakes, and that Zoey shouldn't treat her as sternly as she had done a few years ago, getting Trisha and Dustin to split up.

Zoey showed Carly her contract with Grandpa Shay.

"Oh damn, there seems to be a misunderstanding ..." Carly sighed. "And we probably can't call grandpa because we are out of reach for cellular phones."

Zoey sighed. "He's a great lawyer, right? Your grandpa, that is."

Carly snickered. "He has retired. He wanted Spencer to follow in his foot steps, but after three days of boot camp, Spencer shook his booties and became a freelance artist."

Spencer grinned. "I'm going to build a snowman sculpture, baby!"

"Aw cool!" Zoey smiled. "I consider becoming a lawyer after making my BA .." Zoey shrugged. "Maybe Spencer may give me a few advices."

"Of course, baby!" Spencer smiled.

"The alternative will be a freelance fashion designer ..." Zoey smiled. "From hats to socks, everthing ..."

"Socks?" Spencer chuckled, exposing his feet.

"By Jove!" Zoey was flabbergasted. "These are my socks!"

"I've been there when she invented them!" Dustin beamed. "And Quinn made the illumination!"

Quinn chuckled. "Oh, I might try to extend the range of the WLAN module ..."

"She's a technology- and science geek!" Zoey remarked.

Freddie beamed. "Cool! I'm going to help you!"

Spencer was still shocked. In deed , he had never known where his socks were from ... was Zoey the anonymous vendor unto whom he had assigned fanciful names like Socko, Tyler, and Penny? He had to investigate.

"OK, until Quinn is done, we may try to share the hut." Zoey suggested. "If we girls move tighter together, and the boys do the same in their room, it will be possible for a day or two ... until we find a way out!" She knew that Dustin would have been happy to spend more than one night under the same roof as is idol Carly Shay.

The kids and Spencer all agreed on that solution.

* * *

Trisha aka Sam and Zoey didn't speak a word when they shared a dorm, along with Carly and Quinn, the latter being busy fixing the WLAN access with Freddie in the foyer, anyways.

Spencer and Dustin talked an insane lot, especially about Carly.

A bunch of snow flakes snuck down from the sky while the last lights went out, and the hut went all silent.

* * *

Morning at Yakima Valley. Freddie and Quinn got up early, still trying to fix the access.

Quinn took her jumping rope. "Morning gym!" She smiled. Then she stepped out to the door. All of a sudden, she was all consternated. "Freddie, what's that?"

Freddie shrugged cluelessly. He walked over to the door and was equally astonished. "Where is all the snow?"

Quinn pecked Freddie on the cheeks. "I'm just dreaming, right?"

Freddie was upset, but he understand why Quinn had done that - just for testing whether they were awake. And maybe he liked her for real, after all? He didn't know, because he still had eyes for Carly, but she kept on turning him down forever and one day.

The two of them woke up their friends who were equally consternated.

Freddie and Quinn finally fixed the WLAN access, and they reached the weather forecast.

Zoey read. "OK, two things have happened ... the whole snow in one quarter of Yakima Valley had disappeared, whereas San Diego Belleview, the southwestern angle of continental USA, was sunk in a heap of snow that had come straight down from the sky, without a trace of a cloud or anything. Drake Parker, the famous rock guitarist, and his step-brother Josh, were completely buried in their car under a snow hill."

"Drake Parker?" Sam swooned. "I adore Drake!"

"So do I!" Zoey admitted grudgingly because she hated Trisha aka Sam.

Quinn sighed. "How likely is it that all the snow here disappears over night and the same amount appears at the same time in San Diego where there's hardly any snow ever?"

Freddie shrugged. "Whoever did that , it must be a genius villain like Fu Manchu."

The girls were essentially worried about Drake.

Spencer finally reached his grandpa. Alas, now that the snow was gone, what sense did it make to argue over a skiing hut?

Dustin sighed. He so wished to spend more days with his adored Carly. He had dreamed of skiing with her and having lots of fun with snow.

Carly took a look at her message box. One message was from her archfoe Nevel Papperman. "Have fun without snow in Yakima! Eheheh! Do you rue the day, Carly? Do you rue it?"

Spencer, Freddie, and Sam were consternated. "Nevel!" They shuddered with disgust.

* * *

Megan Parker, the mischievous genious sister of Drake who liked to prank her dumb boobs, as she called Drake and Josh, grinned. "PK, Nevel, it worked perfectly!" She laid her oboe aside.

Nevel Papperman, the consort of Megan, chuckled while getting his fingers off his piano. We've learnt fast. Yet there are still many things to learn on our way towards mastering the elements of nature with the power of our musics! This was just a start!

* * *

** Stay Tuned!**

* * *

** Chapter 2. Ad Pluviam**

* * *

"It's still cold ..." Zoey explained. "So there's a hope that there will be more snow during the next days. If we can't ski, we may at least build snomen or have a nice snowball battle!"

Sam smiled. "I like to smother Freddie with snow balls!"

Zoey still didn't trust Sam, but whatever. The night hadn't been all that bad, so the question who had rented the hut legally could wait.

Dustin cheered, as this meant a few more days close to Carly.

"I hope they get unfortunate Drake Parker out of his snowy prison soon!" Spencer sighed. "I like his music!"

Zoey sighed. "Mr. Shay ... have you got a moment?"

"You may call me Spencer ..." Spencer chuckled noisily. "Oh, thse socks ... I've got them over eCape, someone address near Los Angeles ..."

Zoey nodded. "That's where I've offered them. Glad you like them." She smiled. "But there's something else ... youy are Carly's guardian, right?"

"Since three years ..." Spencer nodded solemnly.

"OK, my parents are now in London. So I'd like to assume guardianship over Dustin, as I've just turned eighteen."

"Happy birthday!" Spencer smiled.

Zoey chuckled. "That was already before the winter break."

"Sorry!" Spencer sighed. "It has a lot of advantages, but it can be stressing, really. But Carly is an overall nice girl, so I'm cool with it."

"Dustin is usually nice, too ..." Zoey smiled.

Dustin and Sam came along. "May you take us to Yakima town? We want to visit the Christmas/Hogmany market!"

"Why not?" Spencer looked at Zoey who nodded. "We'll talk about guardianship later!"

Zoey sighed. She was was infinitely relieved because she knew that she was not alone in her situation, and Spencer was going to share his experiences as a guardian. "Let's get ready for a trip to town!"

The younger teenies cheered enthusiastically. There were not many clouds in the sky, and there was no blizzard in sight. But were they ever going to learn from last night?

The young people jumped into their cars, off to Yakima Town ...

* * *

Drake and Josh finally climbed out of their cars. Their freaky friends Craig Ramirez and Eric Blonowitz had dug them free. "If it weren't so absurd, I'd say it's all Megan's fault!" They shuddered with disgust.

Eric shrugged. "Local blizzards do happen ..." He told a lot of boring stuff about blizzards that Drake and Josh refused to listen to, as they were way too stupid.

* * *

Megan picked her oboe, while Nevel sat down by his piano. They grinned mischievously.

"Conjuring snow flake after snowflake was easy ..." Nevel grinned. "But how about that?"

Megan blew a tune ...

* * *

The kids had had a nice time at Yakima market, and wanted to ride back to their hut, when ...

"Rain?" Dustin wondered with consternation.

"It's much too cold for rain!" Sam remarked.

Quinn told them a lot of stuff about rain and temperature, but this was nowhere near understandable for simpleminded people like Sam and Freddie.

The ground was still frozen, hence the rain turned into instant ice, making the roads up to the skiing hut impassable.

* * *

"National Broadcasting Centre, this is weather reporter Bruce Winchill ..." a voice boomed from millions of radio sets. "The Niagara falls had just dried up for a few moments. Now everything is back to normal, but there's no reasonable explanation how that could have happened!"

Megan and Nevel grinned sarcstically when they heard these news. "Yeah!" They highfived like nobody's business.

* * *

** Stay tuned!**

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** Chapter 3. Ad Glaciem**

* * *

Carly and Zoey sighed. Where were they going to spend the night? They were not able to return to their hut, as the road was still freezing over.

"At least our laptops are in WLAN range ..." Freddie beamed.

Dustin sighed. "OK, anything interesting to see?"

Freddie clicked on iCarly DOT com. "Oh no, what is that? A live chat request?"

Carly shrugged. "Let's see?"

Freddie accepted the chat request.

A familiar voice thundered. "Do you rue the day, Carly?" Nevel's face appeared. "Do you rue it?"

Carly, Freddie, and Sam glared at each other. "We rue it."

Nevel and Megan grinned.

"But we don't believe that you're behind it!" Freddie exclaimed.

"That's impossible!" Quinn boomed with a nerdy voice.

"Things exist between heaven and hell ..." Megan chuckled. She took her oboe and played a few notes.

"DSo you need piano backup, sweetheart?" Nevel asked Megan.

Megan shrugged. "Only if it's you to back me up!" Megan started blowing a tune.

"Watch well!" Nevel thundered when he started hitting the keys of his piano. "I hate natural and harmonic minors!" Nevel grinned.

Zoey and Spencer had not been following the screen while the chat was on. But now ...

"Hey! What's that?" Zoey was flabbergasted when she took a closer look at the ice.

"The frozen layer is cracking!" Spencer remarked.

The younger kids nodded solemnly.

More and more of the ice started to crumble, and , even more, appeared being magically lifted up to the sky ...

Nevel and Megan continued their furious performance.

"Hey! There is something fishy!" Quinn remarked. "How likely is it that the ice cracks and disappears from here while that cheeky girl is playing her oboe?"

Spencer shrugged. "No idea!"

Zoey scratched her head. "OK, it looks like ... we may make it back to our hut?"

Spencer and the kids nodded.

"Have a nice trip home!" Nevel grinned.

The ice was gone when Megan had finished her last quavers.

* * *

Back at their hut, Spencer and Zoey relaxed. "What an exciting day!" They declared unison. Then they saw Carly and Dustin huggle.

"I think that at least two people here wouldn't mind all of us spending the vacations in here, as planned, regardless of the weather and how crowded the hut becomes." Zoey explained.

Spencer nodded solemnly.

Quinn scratched her head. "OK ... Megan made the snow here disappear, and it came down in San Diego. He made the Niagara falls dry out and his waters poured down on Yakima. Now he made all the ice disappear ... this gives me one question ..."

"Where 's the ice going to?" Samantha asked. "If it were icecream, I knew where it should go to ..." She pointed at her belly, performing a yum yum posture.

Freddie groaned with disgust.

Alas, nobody could answer the question.

* * *

"Bruce Winchill, weather news ... a completely unpredictable giant hail shower had just gone down on New york, damaging seriously the main building of Madstyle Inc, America's leading fashion vendor and promoter."

* * *

Nevel and Megan grinned. They had achieved quite a bit, but were they already up to bigger tasks?

* * *

** Chapter 4. Ad Ventum**

* * *

The employess of Madstyle Inc. were consternated. Most of them were on vacations, but the few who stayed over Christmas ... they had to witness a picture of horror and dismay.

True Jackson, teenager yet already Vice president, was flabbergasted.

Lulu, her assistant, shrugged. "Do I get a new desk?"

True Jackson had no clue.

Jimmy Maddigan, passionate drummer and mailcart man at his uncle's enterprise, choked. "A sudden hailstorm ... my idol Drake Parker got stuck in a sudden snow drift, right in San Diego!"

"In California?" True shuddered. "But those events are totally unrelated, are they?" She shivered because she feared worse.

Jimmy shrugged. He took his cellular phone and called Josh Nichols. "Hi, you're the manager of Drake Parker, right? ... OK we've been hit by an unpredictable hail shower... oh, really? We have to investigate. Oh, may I try out for Drake's band ..." He had been asking Drake about five times, but Drake had never answered. "OK, I'll see ... bye bye!"

"Drake?" Lulu beamed. "He's so cool and sweet!"

"Drake Parker is a jerk, and nothing but a jerk!" True replied with determination.

"Whatever ..." Jimmy smiled. "We're invited to California, in order to check the situation. And then I may try out ..."

"We? As in all of us?" True shivered.

Jimmy nodded.

"Yippeeeeh!" Lulu beamed and bounced around cheerfully. "I love Drake!"

Trur shrugged helplessly. "I better come with you, just in order to catch you if you're falling due to severe disappointment!"

Lulu refused to ignore True's accurate warnings.

Jimmy Madison called Kennedy Airport, ready to order a flight for three people to Los Angelos.

* * *

Megan grinned. "Now it's time for us to attack the task of manipulation the wind ..."

Nevel nodded. He played a few notes and sang along. "_Noi siamo il vento che sfiora il mare, che passa alto sopra le montagne, le campagne, siamo il vento libero, io e te._[[1]]"

Megan grinned while she blew the tune on her oboe.

* * *

Zoey, Carly, and their friends had a nice Christmas Eve. The snow had just returned to the valley, and they had been able to have some fun with snowballs and snowmen.

Freddie was annoyed because Sam had built a snowman in his likeness, but in a totally humiliating manner. He checked the news briefly. "Wow, a plane from New York City to Los Angelos had been blown off course, badly. It's still not sure where it went down, but there were no signs of an emergency alert ..."

Dustin whimpered. "Zoey, I'm afraid ..."

"Aw, I could bet that Nevel is at the bottom of that ..." Carly moaned.

* * *

Rocky Road. The family of the Singers were at their Christmans dinner, or Hannukah or whatever they called it, when, all of a sudden ...

"Mom!" Addie Singer screamed. "There's a plane in front of our house!"

Her parents laughed.

"Dream on, sis!" Benjamin, Addie's elder brother, taunted Addie mercilessly. But then he looked out the window, and ... "Addie is right!"

There were knocks at the door.

Addie opened, and she saw True, Lulu, and Jimmy. "Hi?"

The intruders introduced themselves and begged for a place to stay at night.

Mrs. Singer let them in. "OK ... although nobody will believe us this story!"

* * *

** Chapter 5. Ad Tonitrum**

* * *

Megan grinned. "Electricity is such a fun thing ... a little flash, a cute thunder ..."

"I guess you've now arrived at the point where you may make the sparks flying ..." Nevel concluded. "What is a lightning in nature but bridging the separation of positive and negative electric charges? And with our music, we may do exactly that!"

Megan nodded solemnly. "We just need a suitable place to be struck by a lightning ..."

"That shouldn't be a problem .." Nevel grinned. "But not again the boobs or Carly ... we need to strike at some selected sensitive places."

Megan agreed. "If we were in Europe, I'd target something like the Stonehenge or Delphi. Those are very sensitive spots that could directly activate the spirits and gods of the earth."

Nevel grinned. "That's a problem in America ... but I'vedone some research. There's a place near Malibu that had been used in a similar way by deviated Kahuna mages from Hawaii when they stranded at the Californian coast ... today, the place is covered by some boarding school." He smiled sarcastically. "And not just some arbitrary school, but the school of Carly's latest friends, you know, those at the skiing hut ..."

Megan grinned. "I know that school! Drake once gave a concert over there, organised by some ... Zoey Brooks!"

Nevel boomed: "Zoey will be surprised when she returns to her school after the skiing vacations! I guess she's clueless concerning the ancient relevance of the spot their school is built on."

Nevel and Megan highfived.

Nevel remarked that there was actually one particularly sensitive spot in the wilderness outside Malibu: It is called Redstone Gulch. A certain Charles Galloway, student at the PCA like 50 years ago, had disappeared and died there, leaving a cursed tomb.

Megan grinned. She visualised Redstone Gulch and took her oboe, starting to invoke a thunderous tune.

And, just as usual, Nevel hit the keys of his piano. Quavers were flying like sparks.

* * *

Not many students were left at the PCA during the Christmas break.

Chase Matthews was one of them. He had been unable to reach his friend Zoey Brooks over the Christmas break with his phone, thus he was a bit stinky. Suddenly, he noticed a green lightning flash and a thunder roar, and imaginary voices calling out the Lord's name. All of this appeared to come from the direction of Redstone Gulch, a place he had once visited along with his friends Logan, Michael, Zoey, Quinn, and Lola, in order to find the tomb of Charles Galloway. They had emptied the tomb and had been struck by a vicious curse that caused shaking events at the PCA for a few hours, until they had decided to return the stolen amulet of Charles Galloway to his tomb. The memories were suddenly so strong, Chase was seized by eclatant terror. He tried to hide in the basement of his dormitory hall, alas, he knew that there wasn't really any place to hide waiting for the cursed ghost of Charles Galloway ... but was it realy Charles Galloway that was at the bottom of all that? Chase was totally unaware of the ancient magic connections of Redstone Gulch, connections of which Charles Gallowayay had just been a little link in a long chain.

* * *

** Chapter 6. Ad Nebulam**

* * *

The flash and the thunder that had been observed in the first place were forgotten, what remained was a swirly green cloud.

Chase Matthews remembered that cloud. He had never figured whether it was natural or not. He and his friends, too dumb and insensitive to figure the origin of the whole thing, had identified it with the ghost of Charles Galloway, not aware of the superior age of that phenomenon ...

The cloud appeared to curl up to a cyclone. Was it natural or not? Certainly, there natural hurricanes where not of any colour, except that they appeared in a dirty brown or dark grey when they had sucked up enouh dirt and other flying junk. But this one was a lucid green.

Chase fled into the basement of his dormitory hall. He wanted to call Zoey on the cellular phone - she couldn't be out of reach forever - but, all of a sudden, a green cloud billowed forth from the ground and swallowed his cellular phone.

* * *

The news at the end of the year were chock full with comments about the situation at the pacific Coast Academy. Nobody dared to enter it and help the hapless pupils that had been left inside over the break.

Especially Quinn, Zoey, and Dustin were afraid. They knew that they should rush to Chase's rescue, but they were equally convinced that it was plain suicide to do so right now, as the green clouds were plain horror they could not esacape.

"I woant to saty with you, Carly!" Dustin begged. "I can't go back to the green stuff ..." He trembled all over.

Carly huggled Dustin. She really liked him, it was not just a desperate gesture of comfort.

Alas, just like her adult brother, Carly had no clue how to break through the green mist.

Even Zoeyt was clueless, and she had always been deemed Ms. Know-It-All Perfect. She tried to squeeze some encouraging words from Spencer's mouth. He as the oldest gyt in the hut should be the one to stand up for and protect his comrades.

Quinn was consternated, because her science was, once more, powerless against the everlasting curse, a curse she had thought broken once upon a time, but which was now out of control.

* * *

Ben, Geena, Zack, Addie, True, Lulu, and Ryan were on the road down to LA. They were curious as of what was behind the troubles at the pacific Coast Academy. But they had to take a little detour, passing La Mesa. It was more and more obvious that even this detour wasn't bringing them any further, the Mexican bordaer came closer and closer. hence they halted their crafts in front of the James K. Polk school, hoping to find some support there.

* * *

Nevel and Megan grinned. Of course they did not have the wish to block the PCA out forever, but they planned to free it on a very dramatic manner, impressing the ignoble mankind. But these were peanuts compared to the bigger plans they had in their mind, now that they had proven that their music was able to open the portal to a way to seize control over nature in a way that goes boldly beyond all those simple weather manipulations that they had got them started. Once they got the key to make the earth stand still, nothing was going to stop them anymore. Yet, for the time being, they still had to practise a lot.

* * *

** Chapter 7. Ad Coelum**

* * *

The kids of James. K. Polk High School had been consternated were quite surprised when a bunch of kids asked them for subterfuge.

Mr. Sweeny still refused to belive anything. "Snow disappeasring from a whole valley and appearing again on the other end of the Pacific coast ... the Niagara falls drying up ... a green tornado ... that's all impossible! It's unscientific, thus it can't be!"

Simon Nelson Cooke, the best student in science, was more intimidated. "Maybe it is an illusion, but there must be something behind it, and I don't trust it!"

Simon's best friends, Jenifer Mosely and Ned Bigby, shrugged helplessly. They were definitely interested in investigating.

Gordy, the custodian of that school, agreed wholeheartedly.

Too bad Mr. Sweeny didn't allow his pupils to miss out on classes. "If youy need a few days off schools, better think of a better excuse than green tornados and exsiccating cataracts!"

* * *

"Weren't the boys who had been caught in a snow drift from the middle of nowhere guys from San Diego Belleview?" Jenifer asked. "Less than half an hour from la Mesa?"

Simon nodded solemnly. "I'd really like to visit them!"

"Bad luck!" Mr. Sweeny grinned diabolicvally.

Gordy sighed. "I guess as long as the sky is blue, Mr. Sweenie won't allow anyone to ..."

"Hey!" Ned screamed. "The sky is suddenly all orange coloured!"

Gordy and Jenifer looked up the sky. "Hell it is!"

Simon Nelson Cooke dragged Mr. Sweenie along. "I know, that amounts to reversing the laws of dispersion and refraction of electromagnetic waves."

Mr. Sweenie nodded. "And thence I know that it's impossible for the sky to ..." He looked aloft. "Oh noooo ... that is ..." He was flabbergatsed. "OK, I need to see my therapist!"

Mr. Crubs, the Principal of the school, was of the same opinion. But when he looked upwards, he was equally consternated. He passed out.

Down to the mere terror that the teachers had been submitted to, the pupils decided to cancel classes. Nobody was there to stop them from doing so.

Benjamin Singer decided to form a convoy and go to Malibu, taking a small detour passing San Diego Belleview. They needed to catch Drake parker and Josh Nichols.

* * *

Nevel and Megan grinned. They had discovered another trick to manipulate nature with the mere sound of their instruments. This turned them more and more self-confident. They knew that not even the sky was the limit!

* * *

** Chapter 8. Ad Albam**

* * *

Holidays were all but gone, and the students of the Pacific Academy were about returning to their school. Alas, having heard about the recent incidents, they knew that this was a downright scary thing to do.

Sun came up from the mountain braes, and it was breaking the high ground, when a bus from LA airport arrived at the gates of the school. The entrance was all but blocked by the convoy that Drake Parker had been guiding there.

Zoey Brooks dare to leave the bus first and face Drake who obstinately refused to let the bus pass. What a jerk! And then she recognised him: "Drake Parker! It's really you!"

Drake smiled and nodded. "Zoey! Long time no see! Wanna make out, babe?"

Zoey coughed, choked, and she was very close to vomiting. "No way, jerk!"

Josh Nichols intervened. "Sorery for my step-brother. He's accustomed to all girls wanting to kiss him, he can't help it!"

"Oh, so you think you are the best kisser around?" Zoey wondered.

Drake nodded. "Sure!"

"OK ... then I dare you to kiss my roomie Lola Martinez!" Zoey commanded Drake.

"Really? The Hollywood hottie?" Drake beamed and swooned.

Zoey nodded. "But she's very stern in her judgement about boys. She makes a hotlist of good kissers. If you fail that test, you will be branded as a poor kisser forever. If you succeeed, you will be ..."

Josh shrugged. "Uhmmm ... somehow I don't like this ..."

Zoey admitted that she wasn't keen on this, either. Alas, it had to be. There was no other way of showing that particular jerk his limits ...

"I'd so like to show the limits unto that devil that is manipulating the weather around here ..." Josh sighed. "And I'm sure that this is Megan Parker, my eveil step-sister!"

Dustin choked. He had left the bus. "Not again ... how may a girl that looks as cute and snugglish as carly be so cruel?" He started sobbing.

Drake and Josh had been wondering about that question for over five years.

Zoey had seen True Jackson. "Aren't you the youngest VP of America's fashion business?" She had seen a report about her in the fashion designer's bulletin journal.

True appeared. "Well, I might go freelance soon, along with Geene. This is Geena Fabiano, my new best friend forever."

Geena smiled.

"Cool! I might support you. I've done some design as well, just for fun ..." Zoey beemed. "Zoey Brooks is my name."

"hey! You've been at Milan's fashion fair last year ..." True remarked. She was glad for Zoey offering them her collaboration.

Zoey nodded.

Alas, somehow, they noticed that the sun didn't rise above the horizon.

"Yeah, it's still sunrise ... for three hours straight!" Josh remarked.

Everyone was consternated. How was that possible?

* * *

Nevel and Megan grinned when they rested their instruments. They had effected the earth's rotation to come to a halt, using solely the power of their music. Still, this wasn't the end - yet!

* * *

** Chapter 9. Ad Crepisculum**

* * *

Nevel and Megan were tired of having the same time of day all day ... if it was even to be called a day. For ... isn't the day properly defined as the time it takes for the earth to revolve around its own polar axis?

Nevel grinned. "We've manipulated time! The earth stands still, thus all the clocks do! We've got no days, and hence no hours, either, as hours are defined as the 24th part of a day, and miniutes ... well, they are defined as the 60th part of an hour, whereas seconds are defined as the 60th part of a minute!"

Megan nodded. "But it's a bit unfair if we get morning time forever, while others are stuck at midnight."

Nevel sighed. "You're so right, honey!" He went back to his piano. "I guess we shouldmake the earth jump 180 degrees at once."

Megan smiled. "Oh, that would be fun ... then there will be sunset in no time ..."

Nevel grinned. "Depends where you are on earth, of course. For others, time will jump right from noon to midnight, or vice versa."

Megan agreed wholeheartedly.

* * *

The PCA campus

Zoey's eyes bugged out. "What's that?"

Dustin clang tightly to his sister. "Zoey! I'm afraid!" He started weeping, as the sun appeared to run backward at a tremendous speed ... but what was speed if there was no time?

All of a sudden, the sun had set. Nobody on the campus understood what was going on, but everyone trembled with terror and agony. Was that the dystopia Nevel Papperman had been talking about? For, who else would cook up diabolic plans like these?

* * *

Nevel Papperman shrugged. "We may take away days, hours, minutes, and seconds, but aren't they defined nowadays by atomic vibrations rather than earth's rotation? And we haven't yet found a way to manipulate these on purpose!"

Megan shrugged. "Time will come when ... no, it won't, as people will forget soon enough what time is. They still have months and years, as defined by the movement of the moon and the sun across the stellated sky, so we need to ..."

Nevel grinned diabolically. "OK, time to compose something new." He went back to his piano in order to strip mankind of the last things that reminded them of the natural course of time ...

* * *

** Chapter 10. Ad Lunam**

* * *

"Isn't it strange that you girls' have such a period that lasts about as long as the lunation cycle?" Nevel asked Megan.

Megan grinned. "Yeah! You boys haven't got anything like that. That's because we girls are better than you boobs!"

Nevel shrugged. "OK! I just wonder what will happen if he control the cycle of the moon ..."

Nevel and Megan had restored the duration of the earth's rotation around its own axis, thus it made sense to talk about days again.

"Do you think that we may influence the menstruation cycles of women? Just by disturbing the moon?"

Nevel grinned mischievously. "That would be supercool! The whole procreation of mankind would be turned into one big chaos!"

Megan beamed. "You're so right!" She clapped her hands.

* * *

The lessons at the Pacific Coast Academy could not yet resume, as many pupils, and even worse, many more teachers had gone insane!

Zoey shook her head. "All those things were perfectly normal ..." She talked to herself over and over again ...

Lola Martinez stormed Zoey's dorm. her face was totally pale.

"Lola?" Zoey was worried.

Lola sighed. "YOu remember ... Drake kissed me recently. I should judge his kissing ability."

Zoey nodded. "And? How do you think that ..."

"Perfect!" Lola moaned. "Unfortunately, the kiss had consequences."

"Which consequences?"

Lola went evven more pale. "I'm pregnant!"

"What?" Zoey was flabbergasted. "Drake had to go away immediately after the kiss." she reminded Lola. "And you know that kissing alone can't cause pregnancy, don't you?" Zoey thought that Lola had gone insane.

Lola shrugged. "I've thought that it doesn't ... but my menstruation is overdue ..."

Zoey choked. She had no explanation for that.

* * *

The next days, complaints of girls claiming to be pregnant occurred over and over.

The pharmacy shops and the gynecological stations were not ready for such a mass of requests. Many girls were really desperate. It was unbeknownst to them that the moon phases had been manipulated.

Only one girl, Stacey Dillsen, was aware of that: She watched and studied the moon regularly with her telescope. Alas, Stacey was the most unpopular girl of the whole school. She spoke with a lisp, and she was obsessed with cotton swabs. But finally she had found the solution: The moon phases had been slowed down by a factor of three to one. That's why all of the girls, including herself, had experienced a delay of their menstruation cycle. Alas, for the time being, nobody believed her because nobody liked her, except some dork named Eric Blonowitz who shared her passion for stargazing.

* * *

Megan grinned. "That was one big deal!"

Nevel nodded. "Even worse, the tidal cycle of the oceans is now out of order ... coastal navigation has been thoroughly handicapped ..."

Megan and Nevel were content with the way they had manipulated the moon. But they were not inclined to stop there. There were still bigger tasks awaiting them ...

* * *

** Chapter 11. Ad Solem**

* * *

The sun keeps together the system of the eight planets, their moons, and mant asteroides and other smaller celestial bodies that float around it. And it provides, through its electromagnetic radiation, the whole system with necessary energy, enabling life on planet earth.

"You know what would be cool?" Nevel chuckled.

Megan scratched her chin. "You tell me?"

Nevel nodded. "We've manipulated single weather phenomena on earth, the sky, and everything that depends on the rhythm of the moon. Now, how cool would it be if we could switch the sun on and off, just at will?"

Megan beamed brightly. "Awwww ... that would be diabolic ..." She looked at her oboe, tempted into taking a chance on it and direct a powerful sonnet to the sun. "I so like that idea, and I can't wait experimenting with it!" She closed her eyes and visualised the sun.

Nevel smiled when he walked to his piano. He sat down and accompanied Megan. He played a light melody that turned increasingly darker, quaver by quaver.

* * *

The students at the PCA were flabbergasted when they noticed the sun going out at high noon. There was, as assured by Stacey Dillsen and Eric Blonowitz, nothing that blocked the sun. Quinn Pensky's quinnocular, the most precise of all portable telescope-like devices, was unable to detect zilch.

Panic seized the population of the Pacific Coast Acvademy. Zoey Brooks tried to calm the terrified masses, but for no avail.

Suddenly, as fast the the spook had begun, the sky cleared up again.

The pupils and staff relaxed again. But nobody knew how it was possible.

From her previous experiences, Zoey Brooks concluded that Megan Parker was behind the whole terror, along with her fine friend Nevel Papperman. Alas, she didn't want to sound paranoid, whence she kept her thoughts to herself. Alas, it was not easy for her to live with such a suspicion. If Megan had control over the sunlight, she could manipulate the mere existence of life on this planet in virtuallty no time. But what was time, anyways?

* * *

Megan and Nevel grinned. Yet they knew that one last step separated them from perfect mastery over the powers of the universe, and they were almost ready to take it ...

* * *

** Chapter 12. Ad Stellas**

* * *

Megan grinned satanically. "The stars make mankind dream."

"And they were useful for agriculture and for navigation in times gone by ..."

"Do you think we may manipulate them here and there, just a little bit?" Megan chuckled.

"Such as making the polar star appear above the equator?" Nevel grinned satanically.

* * *

Dustin watched the stars as their good light made him dream of his dream girl Carly Shay, even though she was in Seattle. Suddenly, he saw some star moving particularly fast. "Oops, must be a plane ... no star will fly past that fast ..." Alas, Dustin didn't know what was going on. He snuck into Zoey's dorm and woke her up.

"Dustin!" Zoey was dismayed. "It's midnight ..."

Dustin dragged his sister to the window. "Look, that star ..."

Alas, more than just one star started dancing and flying around, across the sky.

"What?"Zoey squealed, waking up Lola and Quinn who had the same impression.

"But why did you have to wake me up while I dreamt of kissing Drake?" Lola complained.

Quinn shrugged, she tried to use her quinnocular in order to take a closer look at the stars. Alas, there was nothing that could ease her mind. She decided to wake up Stacey Dillsen who had a mini-hubble telescope.

* * *

Stacey shrieked. It was true, the stars were swirling around like fireflies, not coming to a rest ... she juggled her cotton swabs in order to demonstrate this.

The world was now finally coming to an end. Dustin grabbed Zoey's waste, not wanting to be let down by her.

* * *

"Aaaaaaaaarggggh!" Dustin screamed with agony.

Freddie walked over to Dustin's bed. "What's up?"

At the same time, Spencer woke up. "I've dreamed that the whole nature, and finally the stars, have gone insane ..."

Dustin sweated and coughed. "Me too ..."

Freddie appeared to have had a very similar dream.

The three of them went to the window and looked outside. The snow of Yakima valley was glistening in the clear moonlight, as it did when they fell asleep. Now they heard sounds of panic from the girls's room come drifting through the door.

Spencer opened carefully.

Quinn, Zoey, Sam, and Carly stood outside, requesting some consolation from the boys.

"We'vbe had a terrible nightmare ..." Zoey moaned.

The boys and the girls apparently had had the same bad dream. They even snuck out of the hut's door in order to verify that it had just been a dream.

* * *

The last night watch, Freddie and Quinn had established a connection for their cellulars to the outer world. They went online - an expensive and flaky connection.

"Do you rue it?" Nevel grinned.

Megan nodded.

The kids sighed.

"The bad guys from our nightmare ..." Dustin remarked.

Now everyone knew them. Were they responsible for the dream?

"OK, we've used our music to make you dream about the end of the world." Megan remarked. "As did many others ..."

Nevel grinned. "It was just a dream, but don't feel safe?"

"What will our end be?"Dustin moaned.

"You don't know the beginnings, yet you want to know about your end?" Nevel thundered sadistically.

"Verily, I tell you ..." Megan beamed. "Where's the beginning, there's also the end!"

Carly and Dustin stared at each other and started hugging.

Spencer and Zoey stared at each other and hugged the same way as Dustin and Carly did.

The end of the world was not real, but their mutual affection that they had discovered during the nightmare was as substantial as can be.

Nevel and Megan went offline.

The kids in Yakima Valley were not smart enough to understand what Nevel and Megan had been talking about, but it gave them a lot to think aabout the beginnings and the end of time.

They checked that many of their friends in the world had had similar dreams. Especially Lola just had to find Drake Parker, and vice versa. They were going to be inseparable, just as many other couples who knew of each other just through the nightmare.

* * *

Torment and grace were so close to each other, and Nevel's and Megan's music was powerful enough to inflict both of them upon anybody, just by using the magics of their tunes and rhythms. Nevel and Megan stood above the lowliness of emotions, yet they mastered them completely by means of their supreme skills. They had demonstrated that the human world was nothing but an illusion made of music.

* * *

** The End**

* * *

[[1] ]_Respiro nel Blù_by Eros Ramazzotti which I don't own. We're the wind that touches the sea, that blows high above mountains and fields, we are the free wind, you and me!


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